Block bearing



June 22, 1954 H. s. v. JRUND 2,681,836

BLOCK BEARING Filed March 2, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l H. S. V. JRUND BLOCKBEARING June 22, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 2, 1951 Patented June22, 1954 UNITED STATES .r

NT OFFICE Claims priority, application Sweden March 9, 1950 Claims.

This invention relates to block bearings in which only a portion of aseries of balls guided in an endless track is under load whilst theremaining portion of said balls runs idly.

It is an object of the invention to provide a bearing of the typereferred to which is ready for use and can be handled as a unit to beeasily mounted between relatively movable machine elements to take theload exerted by one of said elements upon the other.

Another object of the invention consists in the provision of a bearingof the type referred to which can be handled as a unit to be easilymounted in a machine between oppositely disposed iiat surfaces of a loadbearing member and a race member moving in a straight or curved line orbeing rotatable relative to said bearing member.

Still another object of the invention consists in the provision of aself-contained bearing of the type referred to.

Still another object of the invention consists in the provision of meansfor guiding the balls to avoid any choking in the ball track when theballs leave or enter the section under load.

Such a bearing which can be manufactured in series is well adapted forthe use in many vari ous inountings, e. g. in lathes in which the slideand also the tailstock are movable in guides, as well as in millingmachines and in boring and reaming lathes.

Other objects and details of my invention will become apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference characters indicate the same or likeparts:

Figs. 1 and 2 are a vertical side view and a horizontal plan viewrespectively of one form of the improved bearing;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional View of the bearing and adjacentmachine elements taken on the line III- III of Fig, 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 are a vertical side view and a horizontal plan viewrespectively of a modified form of the bearing;

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross sectional view of the bearing and adjacentmachine elements taken on the line *J1-VI of Fig. ll; and

Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section through another form of theinvention.

Referring to Figs. l to 3 of the drawing, the bearing has a base plate lconsisting of a block having fiat and parallel top and bottom faces Aand B and a central bar i2. The plate l is, e. g., secured to the fiattop surface of a slidable machine element 2 by bolts (not shown) incountersunk holes 3 in said plate. An endless groove i is formed betweenthe inner wall of a cavity l5 in the plate l and the central bar I2which may be inserted removably into the base plate l or securedthereto. Instead thereof the groove 4 can be formed by milling thecavity I6 and the bar l2 have rectilinear side walls and semicircularend walls so that the groove li has two rectilinear parallel sections 4aand 4b interconnected at their ends by semicircular sections 4c. Aseries of hardened steel balls 5 are provided in the groove The bottomof the groove ll constitues the ball contact surface. The bottom surfacef ib of the groove section 4b constitutes an idle section which is lowerthan the bottom surface 4a of the groove section lla. Thus, a bar 6 witha hardened upper face to constitute the ball race or contacting surfacelia is positioned in the groove section fia. By this arrangement theactual depth of the groove section 4a will be less than the diameter ofthe balls 5 so that the balls in the groove Lia protrude out of same, i.e. beyond the top face A of the plate l. The idle groove section 4b willbe deeper so that its depth may be larger than the ball diameter orsubstantially equal thereto as shown in Fig. 3. The bar B has at itsends inclined top surfaces 'l forming bridges between the ballcontacting raceway sections lc and the idle sections 4b. As will beapparent from Figs. l and 3 Said bridges form smooth passages betweensaid sections 4a and 4b.

A substantially flat plate 8 is secured to the top face A of the baseplate I and covers the groove sections cib and 4c. The longitudinalstraight edge 9 of the plate 8 forms a rib protruding slightly out overthe groove section 4a to overlie a portion of said ball 5 in the groovesection to. Thereby each roller 5 in the groove Li will be held inplace, i. e. prevented from dropping out of said groove if the bearingis inverted. Thus, this bearing forms a self-contained unit. Both theends of the straight edge 9 of the plates t terminate at curved edgesections l0 which have such configurations that they will overlie agradually increasing portion of each ball 5 closely when the ball leavesthe groove section fic to move on the inclined surface 'l of the bar 6into the curved section 4c, i. e. towards the idle groove section lib.Thus, when the ball 5 advances below the edge l@ the latter contactswith the ball at a point gradually approaching the top of the ball. Bysuitable connguration of the inolined end surfaces l of the bar 6 thesame result lcan be obtained by means of straight edges extendingobliquely over the groove 4. Also, instead of a combination with theguide edge I B the bottom surface of the plate 8 may be provided with aguide for the balls.

It is assumed, by way of example, that the machine element 2 is movablerectilinearly and that the bearing takes the load exerted by saidelement upon a stationary machine element 20 having a bar Il forming ahardened ball race contacting with the balls 5 on the racevvay sectionfla' of the bearing. Thus, the groove il comprises two rectilineargroove sections la and el) interconnected at their ends by semicirculargroove sections c so that it forms an endless ball track having a ballcontacting bottom surface, comprising a rectilinear load taking racewaysection 4a', viz. the ball race on the bar 6, and a lower rectilinearvidle section 4b', viz. the bottom surface of the groove section lib. Theballs 5 will, due to the guiding effect excited by the edges lll, enterand leave the rectilinear groove section a easily so that anyobstruction to the travel of the balls in the groove d will be avoided.Obviously, this self-contained block bearing can be handled as a unit.

In theembodiment as shown in Figs. 4 to 6 the entire raceway is formedon a one-piece member of approximately inverted T-shape in transversecross-section. The straight central bar section l2 of the raceway haslateral flanges E4, l5 at the sides thereof which are connected bysemi-circular anges at the rounded ends of the central bar section. Thecentral portion of the ange i4 has a raised surface or thickenedpci-tion 6 which is hardened to constitute the load-bearing surface llaof the raceway. The ends of the thickened portion l5 are connected tothe adjacent portions f the lateral flange le by inclined bottomsurfaces l, and the upper surfaces of the flange l5, the semi-circularend flanges and the end portions of the lateral flange lli mergesmoothly into each other and are so spaced below the level of thesection 6 of flange I4 that only the balls on the section 6 aresubjected to loading. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the bar l2 has a rib l?extending around its top edge and being so formed that it will overlie aportion of said ball 5 in the groove 4 closely throughout the length ofsaid groove whereby the balls will be retained in place in same. Inorder to guide the balls 5 particularly effectively when they leave orenter the groove section 4a the rib il is somewhat enlarged at ll asshown in Fig. 5. The width of the flanges is somewhat greater than thediameter of the balls 5, and the raceway and assembled balls may beloosely inserted into the cavity I6 of the plate l or it may be securedto the bottom of said plate or housing by screws I8. The raceway sectionlla may be shaped transversely to the curvature of the balls 5 toconstitute a ball race as shown in Fig. 6.

The embodiment as shown in Fig. '7 has substantially the same appearanceas that shown in Figs. 4 to 6. In this embodiment the central bar l2 hasa suitably hardened lateral flange l5 constituting the bottom of thegroove section c and forming in its upper face the load taking racewaysection4a formed as a ball race and being higher than the bottom surfacelib of the idle groove section 4b. The bar l2 has the lateral ballretaining rib I'l as in Figs. 4 to 6 and the plate l has also a lateralrib I9 so that the oppositely disposed ribs Il and i9 overlie a portionof each ball 5 in the groove section 4b and,

if desired, also in the groove section 4a and in the curved groovesections 4c or in part of said curved sections.

It will be understood that although I have described and illustrated ablock bearing having a flat bottom face B the term flat may designateany equivalent configuration of said face, i. e. a bottom face havingrims or other projections being on the same horizontal level if thebearing is mounted on a horizontal flat surface, e. g. the top surfaceof the machine element 2. The various features of the embodiments asdescribed can be combined in any convenient manner.

The block bearing according to the invention can be designed so as todemand very little space when fastening to a flat surface of a machineelement by providing holes through the central bar l2 for fasteningbolts, screws or the like, the outside walls of the ball tracksimultaneously being made very thin, since they will not have to take upany appreciable pressure.

I claim:

l. In a ball bearing of the type including an endless raceway with onelinear section having the central portion thereof elevated above the endportions of the raceway; the combination of a unitary member comprisinga straight bar and an integral flange providing the inner wall andbottom wall of said linear section of the raceway, said :flange having athickened central portion which tapers down at each end, whereby thebottom wall has an elevated central portion connected to lower level endportions by inclined Walls; a housing in which said unitary member isinserted, said housing having a portion opposed to said straight bar ofthe unitary member to constitute the outer wall for that section of theraceway; means including said housing and unitary member to complete anendless raceway, a series of balls on and substantially filling saidendless raceway; and an integral rib on said unitary member andextending partially over said iiange to retain balls thereon.

2. The invention as recited in claim l, wherein said means completingthe endless raceway includes an integral flange on said straight bar atthe face thereof opposite said rst flange.

3. The invention as recited in claim l, wherein said means completingthe endless raceway includes an integral extension of said first flangearound said straight bar to `complete the bottom wall of the endlessraceway.

4. The invention as recited in claim 1, wherein said means completingthe endless raceway includes a flanged section of said housingconstituting the bottom wall and adjacent outer Wall of a portion ofsaid endless raceway, and the bar has an integral rib extendingpartially over the balls on said bottom wall section provided by saidhousing.

5. In a ball bearing for use between machine elements having relativesliding movement, the combination with a unitary ball-race membercomprising a straight bar of approximately T- shape in cross-section andhaving flanges extending laterally from a central stem portion, the endsof the stem portion being rounded and the ends of the lateral flangesbeing connected by integral semi-circular flanges, the central portionof one lateral ange being thickened and surface hardened to constitutethe load-bearing surface of the raceway, the ball-supporting surfaces atthe ends of the lateral flanges and over the remaining flanges beingvertically spaced from the ball-supporting surface of said thickunitaryball-race member in rolling along said 5 thickened section of said onelateral flange, said lateral anges having a width in excess of thediameter of the balls, and means cooperating with said ball-race memberto form an outer wall for said ange raceway, said central stem l05461375 portion having an integral flange extending partially over theflange raceway to retain the balls thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NameDate Richmond Nov. 1, 1898 Wands Nov. 11, 1902 Norwood Feb. 3, 1903Norwood July 26, 1904 Norwood Dec. 1, 1908 Schlicksupp Mai'. 27, 1951Ferger July 3, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Feb. 15,1949

